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Christmas is a time for bringing joy to those who need it most, spreading love with special gifts, and leaving our youngest child alone at home to fend off evil invaders. Thankfully, the latter has happened in movie form a surprising six times, although each has slight variations. The Home Alone franchise is a staple of our worldwide festive viewing, with the underdog story of Kevin, Alex, Finn, and Max keeping generations of audiences entertained year after year. Well, this Christmas, why not try and complete the lot, with a selection of Home Alone adventures ready and waiting for you to stream? So, without further ado, here's a rundown of every Home Alone movie in chronological order and order of release.
Every 'Home Alone' Movie in Order of Release
Here are the release dates of each Home Alone film:
'Home Alone' | November 16, 1990 |
'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' | November 20, 1992 |
'Home Alone 3' | December 12, 1997 |
'Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House' | November 3, 2002 |
'Home Alone: The Holiday Heist' | November 25, 2012 |
'Home Sweet Home Alone' | November 12, 2021 |
Every 'Home Alone' Movie in Chronological Order
'Home Alone'
Release Date: | November 16, 1990 |
Director: | Chris Columbus |
Cast: | Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara |
One of the greatest holiday movies of all time, Home Alone follows Macaulay Culkin's Kevin, the youngest of a large suburban Chicago family and, sadly, the runt of the litter. When the family plans a festive vacation to Paris, in their rush to get to the airport, they leave Kevin behind and, frankly, take far too long to ever realize. Back at home, their house becomes the target of two burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), who seek to rob the house on Christmas Eve. However, little Kevin has other ideas and rigs the house with an array of iconic traps in an attempt to save the day. Nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, Home Alone stormed to victory at the 1990 box office, earning just shy of $500 million worldwide.
Release Date November 16, 1990
Runtime 103 minutes
'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'
Release Date: | November 20, 1992 |
Director: | Chris Columbus |
Cast: | Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara |
For those who felt Home Alone was untouchable after the genius of the first, step up Chris Columbus and his crew to take the best of the first outing and recreate it for a fresh story. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York sees the McCallisters inexplicably make the same mistake again, as Kevin ends up on a flight to New York as the rest of the family head to Florida. While in New York, Kevin's brash confidence sees him use his father's credit card to rent a room in the Plaza Hotel and take advantage of the delicious room service. However, also in New York are Pesci and Stern's burglars, with Kevin ready to stop their evil scheming all over again. As the third-highest-grossing film of 1992, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York proved that the first installment was no fluke with Culkin back to his child-star best.
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Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Release Date November 20, 1992
Runtime 120 Minutes
'Home Alone 3'
Release Date: | December 12, 1997 |
Director: | Raja Gosnell |
Cast: | Alex D. Linz, Haviland Morris, Rya Kihlstedt, David Thornton |
The most underrated of the Home Alone franchise, Home Alone 3 parks the antics of a now 17-year-old Culkin and follows Alex D. Linz's Alex Pruitt. Left home alone with chickenpox, Alex has nothing to do but enjoy his brand-new remote-controlled car. However, little does he know that inside the car is a microchip that can act as a cloaking device for a missile. The car is the target of a gang of four scheming criminals, with Alex required to stifle their plans to steal it back in classic Home Alone fashion. Sadly voted for a Golden Raspberry, Home Alone 3's poor box office performance solidified its bad reception back in 1997, but, as time has passed, fans of the film have slowly, and rightfully, grown in numbers.
Release Date December 12, 1997
Director Raja Gosnell
Cast Alex D. Linz , Haviland Morris , Rya Kihlstedt , David Thornton , Lenny von Dohlen
Runtime 102 Minutes
'Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House'
Release Date: | November 3, 2002 |
Director: | Rod Daniel |
Cast: | Jason Beghe, Mike Weinberg, Clare Carey, French Stewart |
Five years on from the story of Alex, the Home Alone franchise returns to Kevin, although this time he is played by Mike Weinberg in a straight-to-TV ABC release. With Kevin's parents separated, he decides to spend Christmas with his father, his father's rich girlfriend, and a visiting prince. However, unbeknownst to the family, a pair of burglars are planning to kidnap the prince and Kevin must once again use his talents for traps to save the day. Because of its straight-to-TV release and a lack of involvement from John Hughes, Home Alone 4 was an installment in the franchise that seemed to pass viewers by. However, it's still an important part of this series of festive flicks and is required viewing for anyone looking to complete the Home Alone marathon.
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Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House
Release Date November 3, 2002
Cast Jason Beghe , Mike Weinberg , Clare Carey , French Stewart , Missi Pyle , Erick Avari , Barbara Babcock , Joanna Going , Chelsea Russo , Gideon Jacobs , Lisa King , Sean Cameron Michael , Craig Geldenhuys , Andre Roothman , Anton Smuts , Sabine Mièl Fischer , Donny Watrous
Directors Rod Daniel
'Home Alone: The Holiday Heist'
Release Date: | November 25, 2012 |
Director: | Peter Hewitt |
Cast: | Christian Martyn, Eddie Steeples, Jodelle Ferland, Doug Murray |
Made as part of ABC Family's Countdown to the 25 Days of Christmas in 2012, Home Alone: The Holiday Heist takes a supernatural turn when the Baxter family moves from California to Maine and 10-year-old Finn Baxter (Christian Martyn) begins to believe their new house is haunted. Finn decides to set traps to capture the ghosts but inadvertently thwarts the efforts of a group of three criminals attempting to steal a valuable painting stored in the house. Only the second Home Alone installment to not feature the McCallisters, Home Alone: The Holiday Heist still includes a range of references to the original story to keep those die-hard fans entertained.
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Home Alone: The Holiday Heist
Release Date November 25, 2012
Director Peter Hewitt
Cast Doug Murray, Christian Martyn, Ellie Harvie, Debi Mazar, Jodelle Ferland, Eddie Steeples, Malcolm McDowell
Runtime 87 Minutes
'Home Sweet Home Alone'
Release Date: | November 12, 2021 |
Director: | Dan Mazer |
Cast: | Archie Yates, Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney, Aisling Bea |
The latest and only straight-to-streaming addition to the Home Alone franchise yet, Home Sweet Home Alone follows the mischievous Max Mercer (Archie Yates) who is left at home while his family vacation in Japan. With a married couple looking to enter the house and retrieve an heirloom, Max gets to work on putting an end to their plans. Strangely, Home Sweet Home Alone was the replacement for an R-rated Ryan Reynolds project, Stoned Alone, with Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox seeing the company preferring to take a more family-friendly route. Whether or not the Reynolds edition will ever materialize is unknown, and will likely take many Christmas wishes to come true.
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Home Sweet Home Alone
Release Date November 12, 2021
English (US) ·